oil sump plug

[Wear Sunscreen]

This is not t25 related but an interesting topic maybe.

I had a panic phone call from a mate of mine last night, she owns a VW Type2. Whilst out driving all the oil got dumped. Called the RAC out and he discovered that the oil sump plug had fallen out.
After much searching in the dark we found said plug, there appears to be no reason why it happened. The last time it was unscrewed was doing oil change 5 months ago, done about 1000 miles since then.

Any ideas what may cause this?

[ghost123uk]

Well the obvious answer is someone did not tighten it up enough

Folks are wary of them because of the soft alloy the case is made of = too tight and it is all too easy to strip the threads, too loose and it falls out

However I always fit a new washer as the existing one may have been ancient and re-used a good few times, hence loosing it's "crushability". A new washer may well have helped keep the sump plug in without having to rag it in too tight.

[California Dreamin]

Copper sump bung washers are intended to be used once and once only. It never ceases to amaze me why anyone would risk an oil leak for the sake of a 20p sump bung washer.

Martin